Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we're free at last. But are we really free?
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
It stated that all slaves in the rebelling states (the Confederate States) were free.
Since 1863 many other legislative acts have been passed to reaffirm and expand freedom for Black Americans.
Notwithstanding the fact that there is much work to be done before full equality is realized, we are physically free
The chains and fetters are gone. The separate facilities are gone. Segregation, as it was once known,
is a relic of the past. Now, at least theoretically, we can live where ever we are able to buy. So, that, we are
limited only by the amount of our resources. But, is the absence of chains, a house in the suburbs, and driving an
expensive car synonymous with being free?.
Many people, having been made free, have again bound themselves with the chains of debt. Howard L. Dayton, Jr.,
in his book, "Getting out of Debt," states "when you are in debt you have lost a degree of your freedom, and the deeper you
are in debt, the more freedom you have lost." When payments drag on for months and years, when finance charges and interest
rates eat away at your paychecks, when you are unable to give sacrificially to the church because you are paying sacrificially
for your possessions, then you are in financial bondage to the lender." Debt diminishes your income. For instance, with some
credit cards, for every dollar you make you only have use of .75 cent because .25 cent goes to pay interest. Many problems
in marriages are caused by debt accumulation. Interest on credit-card debt can no longer be deducted from income taxes.
Debt is a slave-maker; it entangles and makes us servants to the lenders.
We are programmed to be "instant-gratifiers." That is, I want what I want, and I want it now. Whether I can pay
for it or whether I need it is not the issue - charge it! This is the start of economic slavery. Some said, "The average
American family is three weeks from bankruptcy. The average family has little or no money saved, a large fixed monthly
living expense, credit obligations, and total dependence upon the next month's income to remain solvent."
Dayton points out that Jesus talked a lot about money. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned
with how to handle money and possessions. Jesus talked more about money than about the Kingdom of Heaven. If He thought
it important then so should we.
To exercise discipline and delayed gratification is practical and biblical. Listen to the author of Proverbs,
"Any enterprise is built by wise planning." (Prov. 24:3). "The wise man saves for the future, but, the foolish man spends
whatever he gets" (Prov. 21:20)
Getting out of debt is much harder than getting in debt. It usually feels good to get in debt. We get in by the two words
that create economy slavery - CHARGE IT! But, be not dismayed for all is not lost. Paul affirms for us that we can do all things
through Christ that strengthens us. We can control our desires and gain contentment in whatever state we are in, with the help of the Master.
We now have an eight-week seminar called Debt Liquidation that meets on Sunday at the Church School hour.
The purpose of the course is to assist individuals and give them the tools to get out of debt. At first, we had about
twenty-four people signed up; by the second session we had fifty-nine! The plans are to run the course again after
the completion of the first running and to provide follow up sessions for that complete the course.
One of the Spirituals aptly states my testimony: "Before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave.
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